Pentecost

Sunday, May 19, 2013

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. Romans 8: 26-27

I use a small electric fan to keep me cool in the mornings when I get dressed. How do I know it works? I can’t see the air coming out of the fan, but I know when it’s working. I can see the blade spinning on the inside; I can hear the motor softly purring; I can feel the air blowing on my face. While I can’t see the air, I feel the power of the fan.

I can also feel a much greater power – the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the Day of Pentecost. The Bible tells us that on the Day of Pentecost Jesus gathered his followers around him just before he was to ascend to heaven. Suddenly, a rush of wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. Just as God had promised, he sent his Holy Spirit to give Jesus’ followers the power to tell others the Gospel. They couldn’t see the Holy Spirit, but they knew he was there. The Bible says they heard the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and they saw what looked like flaming tongues of fire that rested on their heads. They could feel his power as they began to speak in different languages.

The Holy Spirit is still with us today. We can’t see him but we, as Christ followers, know he lives inside us. We see the work he does in us and through us. We hear his voice as he guides our emotions, thoughts, words, and actions. We feel his presence as he shows us the right choices to make.

Since you can’t see the Holy Spirit, how do you know he works? You can see, hear, and feel him.

Just as you can feel the power of the fan, you can feel the power of the Holy Spirit.

God, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit. Help us to listen to him as he teaches us how to live.

Still

Monday, May 13, 2013

I am such an impatient “waiter.” I was in the checkout line at a home improvement store recently fussing and fuming about the man in front of me. He decided to wait until he checked-out to decide he needed another item that the cashier had to send an employee to get. Waiting, waiting, waiting. The line backed up behind me and we watched the next lane checkout person after person. I kept thinking, “Why didn’t this man have his act together? Doesn’t he know this is so rude to make everyone wait!” Finally, his transaction was complete. I moved into place. Just as the cashier was about to finish ringing up my total, she asked for my shopper’s card. In all my fussing and fuming, I had forgotten to have it ready. I had to dig in my purse through all the other dozens of shopper cards until I finally produced the right one. While the delay I caused was minor, it was a reminder not to be so hasty in my judgments of others. It was also a reminder to slow down. I wasted time fussing and fuming and could have relaxed and enjoyed a few moments of rest. I needed to be still.

What does Scripture say about a hurried life?

We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. Psalm 39:6

God invites us to slow down and live fully in the moment. When we slow down though, it seems we have to wait.

Part of growing up in our faith is learning the art of waiting. We see what author Warren Wiersbe writes about the art of waiting. When he feels tempted to hurry God, he reminds himself to do these 3 things:

1. “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Exodus 14:13.

We can turn over our worries, issues, to God and then watch how he works iit out.

2. “Sit still… until you know how the matter will turn out.” Ruth 3:18 Take a wait and see approach. Don’t jump to conclusions about what God is doing. Be still until God decides to act. Remember how Sarai rushed God. She had Abraham sleep with her handmaiden Hagar. She rushed God.

3. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

There are times when we are just to accept that God knows best. God is sovereign. We can tell God, “You are God and I am not.”

The key word in all three is STILL. Stillness and patience with God are indicators of “growing up” in faith.

Waiting is an opportunity to be still!

Beauty for Ashes

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

How hard is it to give thanks to express joy in the middle of our mess?

We can’t often change our circumstance but we can change how we see them. We can make adjustments. We might have to adjust our perspective on what is happening in our lives. In the middle of our mess we get to choose whether to move closer to joy or away from it. Whichever way we choose, we usually “wear” our emotional conditions!

In the Old Testament days people wore sackcloths when they were in mourning and they placed ashes on their heads. Sackcloths and ashes were also used to show repentance. They also wore decorative clothing for festivals. Their clothing indicated their condition – some suitable for mourning and some suitable for rejoicing.

What would you wear on a daily basis if what you wore symbolized your frame of mind?

We don’t use these Old Testament symbols today to indicate our sorrow, but what are the indicators that people are in despair or hard times of any kind?

Sad faces, bad attitudes, angry retorts, sullenness, withdrawal, on and on.

The Prophet Isaiah prophesied the Messiah would come to heal the brokenhearted. In fact, this Messiah was going to…

give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the Lord has planted for his own glory. (Isaiah 41:3 NLT)

Jesus came to turn our ashes into beauty to give us a joyous blessing instead of mourning, to take our despair and turn it into festive praise. He came to make us “like great oaks” planted for his glory.

Jesus wants to take our ugly and make it beautiful. He wants to turn our ashes into beauty. He wants to make us strong like great oaks so that we can live for his glory.

It’s easy to add to express joy when the sun is shining and all seems right with our world. But searching for joy in the hard places is a challenge. We often have to go on a treasure hunt to find the joy. Counting blessings in the middle of our mess reminds us to focus on the good in life instead of the shortcomings.

The next time your emotions begin a downward spiral, consider activating the Law of Exchange. Replace the disparaging, sullen thoughts with joyous ones. You can choose to exchange your bad attitudes for good ones. You can choose to live in thankfulness. In the middle of your mess you can choose to focus on life’s blessings instead of its shortcomings.

Wear joy!

Thanksgiving Before Blessings

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Jesus, on the night before he was crucified offered thanksgiving during the Last Supper. “He broke the bread and gave thanks to God for it.” Jesus was expressing eucharisteo ¬ - thanks, joy, and grace. If Jesus could offer a prayer of thanks to his Father on the eve of his crucifixion, in the midst of his suffering, can’t we do the same? What we see in Jesus’ example is that he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving then experienced death, burial, and resurrection. Even though the dark time continued there was a miracle, a re-birth on the other side. Our Heavenly Father will resurrect us too. Oh, that we too would offer Him praise and thanksgiving in the midst of the storms. Blessings will come!

2 Chronicles 20: 12-22 shows that thanksgiving preceded a blessing.

The armies of the Moabites, Ammonites and other armies declared war on Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. Jehoshaphat called upon the people to get serious with God. As the enemy began to bear down on Judah, God spoke through Jahaziel, “Do not be afraid!...for the battle is not yours, but God’s. You will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”

Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same. They worshipped the Lord. The king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holey splendor. They sang, “Give thanks to the Lord and; his faithful love endures forever!”

At THAT VERY MOMENT, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. When the army of Judah arrived, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see.

Thanksgiving preceded the miracle! This land was called the Valley of Blessing. The army then marched into Jerusalem singing music as they entered the Temple of the Lord.

Can we become thankful for EVERYTHING? Even in our wounded moments? Can we look back and see the blessings on this side of our bruised and wounded moments? Let us go before him with praise and thanksgiving as he always goes before us.

MInd of Christ

Monday, April 8, 2013

Paul writes, Let this mind be in our which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

How can we think like Jesus? We need to be students of Jesus to learn what he said and how he acted because of these actions began with thoughts. Paul struggled with the same thing we struggle with. After his conversion when he began to speak to others about Christ, he did it “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” Then he too must have realized he needed to be a student of His heavenly Father. He realized he had to rely on the Holy Spirit to speak through him. He refers to speaking words of wisdom which he calls the “mystery of God” that he says are revealed to him through the Holy Spirit.

When we try to think like Christ we really must rely on the Holy Spirit.

We cannot think, speak, feel, and act like Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit. That is way beyond our human ability. Look what Paul tells us in I Corinthians.

13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2: 13-16

This is a very powerful message! Only those who live in the spirit have the mind of Christ. THE world and OUR world can be changed when live in the spirit because then we can truly reflect God’s glory in the world.

Is it any wonder that the world is in the mess that it’s in! Is it any wonder that people strive against each other? That people lash out, live immoral, self-centered lives?

When people live in and for the Holy Spirit, they have the mind of Christ. Then they think like him, feel like him, speak like him, and act like him. Let’s remember the cycle ---what we think becomes how we feel, speak, and act. God planned it this way! Let’s think like him.

Positve Proactive Emotions

Sunday, March 31, 2013

What is your emotional cycle? We all have one? Do you have a cycle of positive proactive emotions or negative re-active emotions? In order to create more joy in our lives, we need to learn how to create a cycle of emotions that lead to peace and joy. Christ desires for us to live in joy.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11

  Many of us do well with positive emotions UNTIL someone “rains on our parade!” Then we often feel we are entitled to a time of self-pity and negativity. When circumstances don’t go our way or someone hurts us or makes us mad.

 

First of all, let’s make sure we understand what “negative emotions you believe you deserve” means.

 

• Holding grudges against someone who hurts us
• Sulking in response to being disappointed
• Giving others a cold shoulder if they’ve offended us
• Keeping an unforgiving spirit against someone
• Saying mean things
• Ignoring someone on purpose
• Going into our cave of seclusion
• Avoidance
• Procrastination
• Choosing to live in denial and ignorance
• Refusing to talk it out
• Being closed minded
• Being “snippety-snappity” – (My coined word but we all know what it means to snap at people)
• Being brash and harsh
• Having to be right
• Others? _____________________________________

We find ways to justify negative emotions that take us down into a pit of sadness, anger, and withdrawal. It’s important to examine each situation that has a potential to draw us down and examine what our overall goal is. Consider these questions:

• Do you want to be right or happy?
• Do these responses move you toward a goal for a joy-filled life or away from that goal?
• Do these responses bless others?
• Do these responses glorify God?

 If your goal is to live a life pleasing to God, one that draws you closer to him and to draw others to him, then do your emotions match your goal?

 

We all have negative triggers from time to time. A time of reflection allows us to think about how to effectively respond when we’ve been hurt.

Animals have trigger responses. They have reflexes that allow them to respond without thought. On the other hand, humans are the only known species to have highly developed communications skills. We are able to reflect and make judgments about our actions and others’ actions. God designed us with the ability to make moral choices. And God has given his most valued creation something more – the ability to pause between an action and our response. There is a gap between the two.

We get to choose how to respond. Even in a split second we can ask ourselves, “What is my goal in this situation?”

 

It is Christ’s desire that we be filled with the joy that only can be found through him. By being proactive about our emotional goals, we can be ready in the gap. What we do in the gap determines our joy level!

 

Scripture Affirmations

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Erratic - Having no fixed or regular course; wandering

Have you ever observed an erratic driver? They don’t maintain a steady speed and they weave in and out of traffic, often drifting from side to side in a lane. Sometimes they accelerate in fits and spurts. Their behavior is unpredictable and inconsistent.

Is your spiritual growth a bit erratic? Do you find yourself taking one step forward and two steps back or two steps forward and one step back? Do you find that you just so far down the road and then a roadblock stops your forward movement?

Roadblocks to our spiritual growth take the form worry, fear, doubt, apathy, a judgmental attitude, and negative talk.

How can we be more consistent in our spiritual growth?

First we need to make up our minds to move forward. Our spiritual growth will need to be a priority. When we have a committed time of prayer and Bible reading we condition our mind with thoughts and feelings in line with our Heavenly Father. Carrying those feelings with us throughout the day will help us to continue to move forward in our journey. When we are tempted by roadblocks, we can be strengthened to move through them instead of being stalled by them.

Using affirmations throughout the day can help keep our thoughts fixed on God. Affirmations are positive quotes, Bible verses, or memorable sayings that we use to support our spiritual health. Affirmations give us hope and strengthen our belief that we can live a life of joy.

Words are like seeds that shape our world as the verse in Proverbs says,

Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit ---you choose. Proverbs 18:21 (The Message)

Affirmations help us to attach ourselves to the things we want in our life instead of the things we don’t. We want joy, peace, fun, prosperity, significance and excellent health. That means we must run from the inner voice that causes us to gossip, nag, complain, become bitter and unforgiving.

Choose to move forward in your spiritual journey. Choose words of life.

For a free packet of Scripture Affirmations, click here or copy/paste in your browser:  C:\Documents and Settings\Cathy\My Documents\Scripture Affirmations.htm